PROTEST AGAINST THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT BUSH TO THE UK[UK, London,
Thursday 20th November 2003]

PART I OF
3

Over 300,000 people demonstrated against Bush

The largest weekday demonstration in the history of Britain was held to oppose Bush's visit to the UK. On a busy working day over 300,000 people poured out on to the streets of London, bringing it to a stand still, to denounce George Bush and Tony Blair as terrorists.

As with past events, it was jointly organised by the Muslim Association of Britain,
Stop the War Coalition, and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament(CND).

Starting from the University of London the march set off at 2pm down Malet Street. It crossed Waterloo Bridge and then Westminster Bridge, going past the Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street to culminate after dusk in a rally at Trafalgar Square. Speakers addressed the crowds and a 18 foot statue of George Bush was pulled down to thunderous cheers of hundreds of thousands of people.

Save Mother Earth - Kill Bush

The image of the statue of George Bush being toppled was flashed around the world, and it became a humiliation for Bush, a symbol of British peoples opposition to his visit, and to his policies of empire building.

During Bush's three day visit he was kept a virtually prisoner in Buckingham Palace. Afraid of protestors his state procession down the Mall - an obligatory protocol, was cancelled. His address to parliament was also cancelled due to fears of MP's walking out on mass and boycotting his address.

We have many of the speeches given at Trafalgar Square available on this page in real audio format (both for
listening and downloading).

The british poet Adrian Mitchell read out his famous poem "To Whom It May Concern" which begins " I was run over by the truth one day.
Ever since the accident I've walked this way..."

Wilson Borja, a Colombian congressman, who was himself the victim of US sponsored assassination attempts, accused the US of "causing suffering through out the world". He spoke of an "unjust war being waged in Colombia... this war is fuelled by american weapons, american money, and american troops."

The human rights lawyer Louise
Christian, representing three of the britons held in Guantanamo Bay, described Guantanamo as "a huge concentration camp" and their captivity as "gross racism against young Muslim men, an affront and abuse of human rights".

The US flag with skulls representing the victims
of american brutality across the world

The head of the lecturers union NAFTHE,
Paul Mackney, after blasting Bush "we're here to give Bush the push", he questioned tax spending "the UK has to spend one tenth of its tax revenue on defence while tripling the cost of a university place..."

Member of the European Parliament, Caroline Lucas, representing the Green Party took the US government to task over a whole range of issues: "we are against a Unites States administration that wants to be the biggest military super power in the world, that flaunts every principle of natural justice at Guantanamo, which rips up international treaties, that refuses to sign the Kyoto protocol, and which exports a lifestyle which is based on production and consumption patterns that are driving this planet to the edge of extinction and the people with it!"

Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain accused George Bush of waging war on the world and causing terrorism.

Boot Out US Killer Moron

Bruce Kent of CND pointing to Bush (statue): "I do not welcome criminals, I do not welcome liars, and I do not welcome the most dangerous man in this world.. this man has.. 15,000 nuclear weapons and he is making more.. and he is tearing up the treaties
that were meant to
stop them,
.. he's saying to other people you can't have nuclear weapons but I can and the Israelis can..." And he remembered Mordecau Vannunu, imprisoned by Israel for 18 years for revealing to the world Israel's stockpile of nuclear warheads.

A tribute was paid to Tom Hurndall, the British man shot by Israeli snipers whilst trying to protect young children. Tom, still in a comma at the time of the rally, has since passed away.

Hands covered in blood - Bush / Blair

Ron Kovic, the Vietnam war veteran turned peace activist whose life the film "Born on the fourth of July" is based, told the crowds that they have a rendezvous with history: "You were born to this time and this moment in history. It is your destiny, your sacred birth right to take this country back on behalf of the people...". He was given the honour of calling the countdown to toppling the statue of Bush. As the statue came down cheers resonated through the centre of London.

Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn pointed to a history of american war mongering:
"George Bush and Tony Blair at their rather curious joint press conference stated 'We will go anywhere, any place, any time to fight any war until we win the peace'. Well I'm old enough to remember President Kennedy saying that in 1960 and President Johnson, and that led to the carnage of Vietnam and all those lives that were destroyed there..." and he urged the American people to "stand against your government and stand for peace around the world!" He finished by quoting John Pilger that there remain two superpowers in the world - the USA and US the people of the world.

The worlds greatest power - Us (the people)

Linsey German, convener of the Stop the War Coalition spoke of the movement: "Our movement is not going to go away, we are in solidarity with the Iraqi people, we are in solidarity with the people around the world - the Palestinians who are oppressed, all the people around the world who suffer so much from american foreign policy."

In a statement that was read out on her behalf, Jari Sheese, the wife of an American soldier serving in Iraq questioned the President: "George Bush where are the weapons of mass destruction that sent my husband to war? The only weapon I have witnessed is the weapon of fear that has taken hold of our entire country breeding millions of patriotic zombies who are too afraid to even ask questions."

The Genral Secretary of the TNG Union, Tony Woodly, spoke of peace and justice: "there cant be any justice and peace across the world unless there is peace and justice in the middle-east, and that means justice for Palestine and the Palestinian people."

George Galloway spoke of the importance of the coming European elections: "we are going to use the European parliament elections next June to unite all the forces on this march in this country who have disinherited, who are disenfranchised, who don't have a voice, who wont be heard, we are going to unite them in one mighty movement on that election day and we are going to drive nails in to the political coffin of Tony Blair!"

The rally ended with poems and lyrics in different styles being recited. Among them was Pain Of Life: "...the rain's made of metal when apaches blaze,
light up the sky turn the warm nights cold,
you know 10 people murdered and you're 10 years old,
and it's so real you come face 2 face,
wida smell o' da dead that the missiles trace,
and there's one less stone in one less hand,
and one less boy to become a man,
yo it's no jokes we watch the world bleed..."

The London rally was not alone, similar protests took place over the three days all across the whole country.

A broom with a placard
"Give Bush The Brush"
showing an upside down US flag
marked with a swastika

UK & USA - United in Shame

Freedom For Palestine

A packet of pretzels hanging from
a George Bush Wanted Poster

A readers letter published in a
canadian newspaper

George Bush - "Unwanted" Poster

"Send Inspectors into US"
The US is the only country in the world
that has used nuclear weapons,
and on each occasion it has been
against civilian targets.

Blood soaked statue of liberty

A lamp post remains liberated for the Stop Bush campaign well after the rally

USA - Rogue State

"America was built on two monumental crimes: the genocide of the Native American and the enslavement of the African American. The tendency of America is to memorialize other peoples' crimes and to forget its own"

Professor M. Mamdani (Anthropology), Columbia University

Adrian Mitchell

Adrian Mitchell, British Poet. He read out his famous poem "To Whom It May Concern". It was first read out in Trafalgar Square in 1964 during the protests against the Vietnam war. With the launch of the so-called war on terror the author altered the poem by adding the additional lines on Afghanistan, Palestine, etc. at the end of the poem and he read it out again on Saturday 13 October 2001 at the Anti-War demonstration in London and again on 20th November 2003 at this Stop Bush rally in Trafalgar Square:

To Whom It May Concern

I was run over by the truth one day.
Ever since the accident I've walked this way
So stick my legs in plaster
Tell me lies about Vietnam.

Heard the alarm clock screaming with pain,
Couldn't find myself so I went back to sleep again
So fill my ears with silver
Stick my legs in plaster
Tell me lies about Vietnam.

Every time I shut my eyes all I see is flames.
Made a marble phone book and I carved out all the names
So coat my eyes with butter
Fill my ears with silver
Stick my legs in plaster
Tell me lies about Vietnam.

Where were you at the time of the crime?
Down by the Cenotaph* drinking slime
So chain my tongue with whisky
Stuff my nose with garlic
Coat my eyes with butter
Fill my ears with silver
Stick my legs in plaster
Tell me lies about Vietnam.

A 65 year old grandmother, Lindis Percy,
started the protest off by climbing the gates of
Buckingham Palace and pinning a inverted US flag
with a message for the Queen :-
"Elizabeth Windsor& co. - He is not welcome"

At 8:30 am on November 20th at Admiralty Arch, Oxford activists
unfurled a banner reading 'Bush Free Zone' and decorated with
a (Bush choking) pretzel, and handed out leaflets which quoted the
memoirs of George Bush Senior where he said occupying Iraq would
be "unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate," and
"Had we gone the invasion [of Iraq] route, the United States could
conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
(src: sociétélibre, Indymedia)

Prosecute Bush for war crimes and human rights abuses

Wilson Borja

Wilson Borja, Colombian Congressman. Leader of the peace movement in Colombia, a former trade unionist has been the target of assassination attempts by US sponsored paramilitary death squads. In December 2000 he managed to survive after being shot in the head, leg and shoulder.

"In the past the United States used the cold war as a pretext to impose their will around the world. Today they use terrorism, which we all of course reject, as their pretext for the new US imperialism in the world.

And they use this pretext to wage wars which create more poverty and suffering through out the world.

I'm angry that my government like the government here have been some of the biggest supporters in this war of domination against the people of Iraq.

But while the eyes of the world are on Iraq there is another unjust war being waged in my country, Colombia. And in this war people like the people here today, people like us are assassinated and murdered for their political opinions. And this war in Colombia also is fuelled by american weapons, american money, and american troops. And as with Iraq the British government too is giving military assistance in Colombia for the war in my country.

And we say that we do not want war in Colombia, not in Iraq, nor Palestine, not any other place in the world.

The US is waging a
"Counter-insurgency" war against the Colombian
people on behalf of US multinationals who are busy
pillaging the country. Foremost amongst these multinationals
is Coca-Cola. There are several thousand US troops
on the ground in Colombia including special forces
which provide training to death squads and CIA intelligence
experts (three of which were captured earlier this year).
Worried about prosecution in future, the US in August
2003 bullied Colombia in to signing an agreement
which shields U.S. military in Colombia from prosecution
by the International Criminal Court for any human
rights abuses. Meanwhile, US military aid to Colombia
is now second only to Israel.

The primary means for
repression has been the use of paramilitaries.
In the last fifteen years in Colombia 4000
activists were murdered in the 1980s; 151
journalists have been shot; 300,000 Colombian
civilians have been killed; three out of four
trade union activists murdered worldwide are
killed by the Colombian paramilitaries. According
to the UN, university lecturers and teachers
are "among the workers most often affected
by killings, threats and violence-related
displacement."

Paramilitary groups
also regularly target human rights activists,
indigenous leaders, and community activists.
This repression serves to criminalize any
form of civil society resistance to US-led
neo-liberal restructuring of Colombia's economy
and stifle political and economic challenges
to the Colombian status quo.

Graffiti in Colombia: Yankee
go home, and a call for popular insurrection

While visiting England, George W. Bush is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people. He asks how she knows if they're intelligent.

"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate."

She phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister. Please answer this question: Your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"

Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."

"Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Bush?"

"Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"

Upon returning to Washington, he decides he'd better put the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the test. He summons Jesse Helms to the White House and says, "Senator Helms, I wonder if you can answer a question for me."

"Why, of course, sir. What's on your mind?"

"Uh, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Helms hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?" Bush agrees, and Helms leaves. He immediately calls a meeting of other senior senators, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Helms calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem.

"Now look here Colin Powell, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother, or your sister. Who is it?" Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course, you dumb ass."

Much relieved, Helms rushes back to the White House and exclaims, "I know the answer, sir! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!" And Bush replies in disgust, "Wrong, you dumb ass, It's Tony Blair!"

Placard showing a photo of a paid for advert that appeared in Canada:
"9-11 BUSH DID IT!" "9-11 / WTC Bush's Reichstag Fire". SIGA , a network of Christian activists working for peace
and fighting the New World Order, sponsored the advert.
Quote from their website:
"What we realized is that anyone working for peace and
standing against the tyranny of the New World Order
is truly part of God's Army (an army of peace),
no matter what religion or nationality."

When History Repeats...

They say that those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

Lets us see what we can learn from looking at how the nazis turned a democracy in to a dictatorship which lead to genocide and war resulting in death of 60 million people.

Hitler had secured the chancellorship after the elections of November 1932, but his Nazi Party had not won an overall majority. It didn't matter, the power denied him by elections he gained subsequently by an act of terrorism. The burning of the Reichstag (parliament) building in Berlin, on the night of Feb. 27, 1933 was a key event in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship and is widely believed to have been contrived by the newly formed Nazi government itself to turn public opinion against its opponents and to help it assume emergency powers.

The fire was blamed on communist terrorists and that very night, a state of emergency was declared. The Nazis rounded up 4,000 political activists and intellectuals, many but not all were Communists. The next morning, Hitler presented President von Hindenburg with an emergency order, ready for his signature, that voided important basic civil rights, expanded substantially the list of crimes that carried the death penalty, and vastly boosted the central government's powers to pressure the individual states, all in the name of fighting terrorism.

The burning of the Reichstag (parliament) building in Berlin ,
on the night of Feb. 27, 1933 was a key event in the
establishment of the Nazi dictatorship.

The police were now empowered to imprison suspects and extend remand indefinitely at their discretion. They could keep relatives utterly uninformed about the reason for the arrest and the fate of the imprisoned person. They could prevent lawyers or other people from visiting detainees and reviewing their files. No court was entitled to intervene. The emergency order, "for the protection of the people and the State," was augmented that very day by an order "against treason and treachery." The two orders became the basis of jurisprudence and the foundation stones of the Nazi dictatorship.

Within a month of the Reichstag fire, Germany's first concentration camp Dachau was opened (22 Mar 1933). It was initially an internment camp to hold "terrorist suspects" which under the new laws could be held indefinitely without charge. With time as more and more people were sent there it became a death camp along with Auschwitz and the others.

Dachau, the first of many concentration
camps, opened a month after the Reichstag fire.

One person who was eventually sent to Dachau in 1938 was Martin Niemoeller, a Pastor of the German Evangelical (Lutheran) Church. He wrote :

"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me... and by that time, there was no one to speak up for anyone."

With the dictatorship secured, next they initiated the war. During the Nurenberg Trials, Herman Goering, Hitlers designated successor, explained how easy it all was:

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Hitler talked of his love of peace and claimed Poland had attacked Germany, his invasion the next day was an act of self-defence:

"...I am wrongly judged if my love of peace and my patience are mistaken for weakness or even cowardice. I, therefore, decided Wednesday night and informed the British government that in these circumstances I can no longer find any willingness on the part of the Polish government to conduct serious negotiations with us... This night for the first time, Polish regular soldiers fired on our territory. Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning the fire and from now on bombs will be met with bombs. Whoever fights with poison gas will be fought with poison gas. Whoever departs from the rules of humane warfare can only expect that we shall do the same ... until the safety, security of the Reich and its rights are secured..."

The first new concentration camp - Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo
opened five months after the 9-11 attack.

The parallels between the Third Reich and the New World Order are clear for all to see. The unanswered questions about 9-11 - who did it? Certainly the official version doesn't hold water, and it is clear that what came after 9-11 was pre-planned way before the attack. The september-11 attack was used by the Bush regime and its clients states to pass draconian legislation like the Patriot Act in the US and the Anti-Terrorism laws in the UK, with little opposition, wiping out our basic civil liberties in the process.

In this holocaust it is the Muslims that are being taken away first. Like Joseph Goebbels' propaganda Ministry we have the mainstream media - Fox, CNN, BBC... all demonising Muslims as an unwelcome "fifth column" in society, fanning the flames of islamophobia. Not unlike the nazi laws targeting Jews we are today witnessing France, Germany and Belgium all proposing laws to ban Muslim head dress (Hijab) - the mere sight of a Muslim is now, apparently, unacceptable and a "threat" to society. Reminiscent of the "No Jews" signs prevalent in nazi Germany, one French doctor, impatient for the law to pass, has already put up a sign in his clinic which reads 'I refuse to treat veiled women'.

"Guantanamo IS Auschwitz"

Concentration camps in Guantanamo have been set up to parallel Dachau, with Muslims, including children, being held indefinitely without charge. There is already talk of them being turned in to death camps with detainees being executed after mock military trials. In Britain, Belmarsh Prison is gaining a reputation as an internment camp.

Then we have the war on terror, weak sovereign states being invaded on the pretext that they may pose a threat to the US - if not now then perhaps one day in the future. It doesn't matter that the only weapons of mass destruction found, all belong to the US or its proxies - the war on terror must go on relentless until the world if fully subjugated.

So history is repeating itself, the question arises - what are we going to do? Are we going to let it all happen again? Have we not learnt anything? Are Muslims going to keep their heads buried in the sand and deny what is happening around them until they are taken away? Are non-Muslims going to stay silent like the Pastor hoping that they will not be next? Or will we learn from history and use our voices and freedom whilst we still have them to fight this Fourth Reich?

"If you think Blair's a poodle say woof woof - Woof woof!If you think Bush's a cowboy say yee ha - Yee ha!If you this war was for oil say no war - No war!"

Louise Christian

Louise
Christian, Human Rights Lawyer of Christian
Khan solicitors, is acting for the families of Feroz
Abbasi, Tarek Dergoul and Martin Mubanga who are detained
in Guantanamo Bay :

"As we speak Bush and
Blair are discussing a huge concentration camp
of young Muslim men who are being held without
access to a court or a lawyer in a gross abuse
of human rights.

I want all of you to let Blair
know that he's got to stand up to Bush and say
'respect the rule of law!' Blair stand up to Bush!
Stand up to Bush!

Its no good fighting a war
in the name of human rights and democracy if you
are setting a bad example to the whole of the
rest of the world - it doesn't work! Mr Blair
tell Mr Bush this is got to stop. You cannot have
a huge concentration camp, its gross racism against
young Muslim men and its an affront and abuse of
human rights. Thank you for listening to me, stand
up for the people in Guantanamo Bay and basic
human rights..."

Outside the houses of parliament,
Bush & Blair are reminded of the
illegal concentration camps they have created for
Muslims
in Guantanamo Bay - Camp X-ray and now Camp Delta.

"Dear
Dad... It is nearing a complete year since I have
been in custody... After all this time I still don't
know what crime I am supposed to have committed
for which not only I, but my wife and children should
continually suffer for as a result. I am in a state
of desperation and am beginning to lose the fight
against depression and hoplessness..."

One of the few letters of Moazzam Begg that reached
home, sent through the Red Cross. Even these have
been heavily censored by the his US jailors

Every few months, a letter
manages to get through and arrives at the Birmingham
home of Azmat and Gull Begg from their son, Moazzam,
himself a father of four, one of the British detainee
in Camp Delta. He is among nearly 700 prisoners
held by the US, including children and elderly,
all held illegally without charge and without
access to family or legal representation, who
after several years of interrogation and torture
are to face secret US military run mock trials.

Since his arrest in Islamabad
in February 2002 - the same night his wife Sally
had told him she was pregnant with their fourth
child - Moazzam has written pages and pages to
his family in Birmingham.

But few letters get through,
and those that do typically have several passages
heavily crossed out by those who monitor goings-on
at the prison camp.

"I too write and write,
but to judge from his comments, few of my letters
are delivered," Moazzam's father Azmat Begg
tells a reporter as he fans out his son's missives,
written in neat hand-writing on paper supplied
by the Red Cross.

Moazzam has yet to meet his fourth child,
a son born after his arrest

November 2002.
To Dad, today is the first day of Ramadan and
it is going as well as can be expected. Our
meals are all arranged, now, to the dark hours.
As the weather has become quite cold, now we
have been issued with warm thermal underclothes.
Boredom here is extreme. I have not seen the
sun for over seven months except once, for around
two minutes. I wish you all the best for the
blessed month of Ramadan and a happy Eid!!!
Your son, Moazzam

January 2003.
Dear Mum and Dad, I have done a lot of reading
in the past few months (45 books or so), just
having read about the United States' war of
independence and Civil War. I had a discussion
recently with someone about the US's major contribution
to civilisation (after talking about Ancient
Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China etc).
I pondered for many hours and then came up with
the answer - peanut butter (both smooth and
crunchy). My co-debater was not amused with
the results of my hours of research. I have
that every now and then and it tastes fairly
good! My salaam and love to you all.

January 2003.
The camel spider is the only 10-legged spider
in the world and, I believe, it's not an arachnid
(technically not a spider). But it grows bigger
than human hand-sized, moves like a race-car
and has a bite that causes flesh to decay -
if left untreated. In the summer there were
plenty here, running into the cells and clambering
over people; one person was bitten and had to
be treated. Thank God it's winter!

The
name "camel spider" is not entirely
accurate. They are not exactly spiders;
they are solifugids -- sort of a cross
between a spider and a scorpion. They
grow to 6 inches and have four pincer-like
jaws used for crushing prey. The main
risks presented by camel spider bites
are shock or infection, but its venom
can cause temporary paralysis in the victim.

Although
they only use three of their four pairs
of legs for running, camel spiders are
one of the fastest running arthropods
and can reach speeds up to 10 mph (5 metres
in 1 second!). They rely on this speed
to catch prey. They feed on other spiders,
scorpions, lizards, mice and some small
birds. Once they have caught their prey,
they use their crushing jaws to kill it.

Camel
spiders are nocturnal predators coming
out primarily at night in search of food,
they are attracted to light. When they
do come out during the day, camel spiders
avoid the heat by running from shadow
to shadow, even if it belongs to a human.
If a camel spider runs toward a person's
shadow and he or she tries to run away,
the spider will chase the shadow. So,
it appears to be chasing people when it
is actually not.

Chemicals
such as bug sprays are not recommended
as they most likely will do nothing but
make the spider angry. Avoidance is the
key!

March 2003.
Dear Dad, I am doing OK and trying as patiently
as possible to overcome despair. These days
I have found things getting easier and occupy
my time with much of the same activities - exercise,
conversation, prayer and sleep. Your son, Moazzam

At 12, Moazzam went to
stay with relatives in Pakistan where, his father
says, his interests in humanitarian work began.
Moazzam, his wife Sally and their young children
moved to Afghanistan about a year before the arrest.
There they helped install water pumps and tried
to set up a school - Moazzam looking after boys,
Sally the girls.

When the US bombardment
of Afghanistan began, the family moved to an apartment
in Islamabad to wait out the strikes. They planned
to return when the dust had settled. But Moazzam
was arrested and the family's funds - about £8,000
- were seized, leaving Sally and the children
to fend for themselves in a country where they
did not speak the language.

Azmat Begg fighting for justice for his son

"I got a phone call
from Moazzam in the middle of the night. At first
I could not even tell if it was him, he was speaking
so quietly. He said 'Dad, I've been arrested.'
I thought he was joking, or that I was still dreaming,"
Mr Begg says, his voice dropping as he remembers
that night. But Moazzam wasn't joking. Eighteen
months on, his son is still held without being
given any indication of what charges he is held
under.

Meanwhile the British government
is doing nothing to secure the freedom of the
British detainees. They have admitted that even
with the much criticised new anti-terrorism laws,
there is nothing under British law with which
the detainees could be charged with. It would
be embarrassing for America and the "special
relationship" if upon their return to Britain
the detainees could not be held and had to be
set free.

Muslims held illegally by the US in violation
of the
Geneva Convention for the treatment of prisoners
of war.

Oh My God, They Killed And Killed And Then!!??
Wined And Dined At The Palace!!?!
(in style of South Park cartoon)

Blair on The Simpsons

Mr Blair briefly appeared on The Simpsons cartoon in January 2004. The less than a minute appearance took eight months of negotiations between Alastair Campbell and the show's producers, which involved the veto of Homer offering Mr Blair a corgi as a present for fear that it
would have been interpreted as Mr Blair being America's poodle. Were it not for Homer's comment of "I can't believe we met Mr Bean!" as Mr Blair departed, it could almost have been scripted by Mr Campbell.

Fountains of Blood

Many prominent fountains in London and around the country turned blood red
on the day Bush visited the UK.

Trafalgar Square showing blooded fountain

Reflected in the sea of blood, a placard read "Bush Off"

Paul Mackney

Paul Mackney, General Secretary of NATFHE.

"Tony Blair I hope you're listening because this stop the war coalition is still here! And we're not going away! We're here to tell the world of what we think of Bush and his unnecessary war. We're here to give Bush the push! After all Bush has said and I quote that he will not tolerate any foreign influence in Baghdad, well we don't want Bush's foreign influence here either! And today we have really rained on his parade. He wanted pictures of the people of London welcoming him so he can get re-elected next year. What we are here to tell the world is that we don't want Bush!

On future war:

Now there is a danger here - Bush and Blair might say if the weapons and not in Iraq then they must be in Iran or Syria, lets go and invade those countries. We're here to say that the world will not let them invade those countries!

Bush - Hands off Iran

On the war:

This is not a victory for democracy, its a victory for hypocrisy!
This was not a war of liberation but a war of occupation!
This was not to free Iraqi soil, but to get control of oil!
Bush doesn't care about restoration, he wants privatisation with the contracts parceled out to his "project for new America" friends!

On education:

Now we are told about this special relationship and its advantages. What do we get in return? It seems to me that the UK has to spend one tenth of its tax revenue on defence while tripling the cost of a university place. We want grants [educational grants for students] not bombs!"

A great idea - someone created a Bush for people
to write their thoughts and messages to Mr Bush on its leaves.
Here are a few of those thoughts:-

"Bush STOP TAKING THE PEACE out of the world "

"Bush, Your the source of all evil in this world,
we all know it, you don't! Increase the peace, God is watching"

"Go home Mr Bush, don't bring your double standards in to my country.
The blood of innocents is on MY HANDS because of your policies.
Find peace Mr Bush in your stony heart"

"Why the war?"
"Killing people for oil - Shame on YOU Mr Bush"
"Do you think it has ended, well it has just started."

"Stop treating people like cattle on your ranch"
"Enjoy your stay at Buckingham Palace, I hope you're offered a poison chalice"
"God help the people of America with you as their leader"

Caroline Lucas

Caroline
Lucas, Green Party Member of European Parliament.

"Its brilliant to see you all here tonight, I think we should be proud to be part of the largest weekday demonstration that there has ever been in London. And there are many millions around this country and around the world who would have liked to be with us today, who are watching us today and who are willing us to continue our protest, and we are here to say we will continue those protests because our message is ever more relevant and ever more true.

We said this war was illegal, today we read that Richard Perle advisor to the Pentagon suddenly agreed it was illegal!

We said there were no weapons of mass destruction - they have found zero weapons of mass destruction.

We said this war will not make the world more secure and the tragic bombing in Istanbul today, and our hearts go out to the victims and the families of those who suffered, but i think that shows us that our world is anything but more secure today.

And so our message is this: That while the british Prime Minister may be an ally of George Bush the british people are not!

Our message is that far from being a triumphant hero as Blair would like to portray George Bush, he is a war criminal who has made this world an infinitely more dangerous place.

Our message quiet simply is go home Bush!

But for these sentiments Jack Straw calls us anti-american, we are not anti the american people. What we are against is a US administration which has turned the United States of America in to the greatest rogue state in the world!

What we are against is a Unites States administration that wants to be the biggest military super power in the world, that flaunts every principle of natural justice at Guantanamo, which rips up international treaties, that refuses to sign the Kyoto protocol, and which exports a lifestyle which is based on production and consumption patterns that are driving this planet to the edge of extinction and the people with it!

Big Bus(h)ine$$ Rules Britannia

So that we are here to say that climate change is a weapon of mass destruction too.

We are here to say that if George Bush spends one iota of the energy and resources in tackling global warming that he currently does in waging war the world would be a more secure place indeed.

Our protests are not only about George Bush. If the man who was invited is the problem then the man that invited him is also a problem.

If the man who waged war on Iraq, if the man that lead the war on Iraq is the problem then the man who tried to wrap that war in a false cloak of legitimacy is equally so.

Tony Blair took this country in to an immoral and illegal war through a mesh of lies and we are here to say that we see through those lies and that deception. There were no weapons ready in 45 minutes. There was no uranium from Niger. There was no serious and current threat to Great Britain.

Bush - War Monger Go Home

And we now hear the greatest lie of all, because they said there was no alternative, we always challenged that, but now we hear that in the last month before the war Saddam Hussein made effort to the coalition to say yes we'll have US weapons inspectors, as many as you like, we'll have internationally monitored elections, we'll even let you have access to our oil. And we are here to say to have dismissed those arguments, to have ignored those offers was outrageous, was unforgivable and was obscene.

So instead we have a legacy of a bloody war, over 20,000 people have died in Iraq, the security situation is deteriorating, and life for women in particular is literally hell with rape and kidnapping now common place.

And we hear also about the depleted uranium and the cluster bombs and so our message to Blair and Bush is that you can't say this was a humanitarian war when you used cluster bombs and depleted uranium. We are here to say that you cannot bomb your way to peace.

We will only have peace when we tackle the root causes of conflict and that means tackling poverty and injustice. We will only have peace when we hand back Iraq to the Iraqi people. We will only have peace when we end the illegal Israeli occupation and create a viable Palestinian state.

And finally, the eyes of the world are on Trafalgar Square this afternoon - we are making history. Believe me our message will be heard - thank you for being here."

BUSH - One piece of american garbage
we are prepared to dismantle here

The UN, since its inception, has been used as a rubber stamp
to legitimise US aggression across the world.
This time though when it failed to sanction the US invasion of Iraq
it suddenly became a liability as this American poster indicates.

US bugging the UN :
Dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war

In March 2003 it was revealed that the United States conducted an illegal secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to coerce votes in favour of war against Iraq.

The secret surveillance operation involved bugging the homes and office telephone calls and emails of delegates to the UN.

The National Security Agency (NSA) made clear that the particular targets of what was described as an eavesdropping "surge" were the delegates from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria, Guinea and Pakistan, the six crucial "swing votes" on the security council. But it was not restricted to these, and also asked its regional managers to make sure that their staff 'pay attention to existing non-UN Security Council Members office and home telephones for anything useful.

A memo sent by Frank Koza, a senior NSA official, said the information would be used "against" the key UN delegations. Undecided countries on the Security Council hade already been threatened of unpleasant economic consequences if they vote against the US - against a UN sanctioned US invasion of Iraq.

US Media Cover Up

The deeply embarrassing illegal surveillance operation which had been sanctioned by President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice is purposely not being reported in the US media. The New York Times had yet to even mention the story a full week after it first broke. One of the report's authors, Martin Bright, "said that he had agreed to interviews with NBC, CNN, and Fox News Channel-- and that all three had called and canceled."

Deja Vous

The whole scandalous operation of threatening sovereign nations, bugging their delegates homes and offices, to blackmail and coerce them to vote with the US are reminiscent of the bullying that took place during the 1947 UN vote for partition of Palestine to create Israel. Then President Truman had ordered his staff to pull all the stops out to secure the vote for partition. Dozens of vulnerable countries like Liberia, threatened with a rubber embargo,and Haiti were forced to change their declared positions and obey the US and vote for the creation of Israel.

Person of principle try's to prevent war

The illegal operation would have remained hidden had it not been for a brave young person of principle, 29 years old Katharine Gun was a translator at GCHQ when she came across the secret memo. She exposed the american plan by sending the memo to the Observer newspaper."I have only ever followed my conscience". She explained, her disclosures exposed "serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US Government" and were designed to prevent "wide-scale death and casualties among ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces".

Katherine Gun, at great personal cost she took a principled stand
and bravely exposed the US illegality

In a society where hypocrisy and deceit rule, instead of rewarding her principled stand she was sacked by GCHQ and then arrested for breaching the Officials Secret Act. GCHQ then imposed limits on what instructions she can give her defence lawyers, an action which was attacked by Amnesty International for being in breach of her human rights.

She is currently out on bail and has to return to court for trial on January 19th 2004.

* Breaking news ( Observer, 8 Feb 2004), suggests that Britain helped America conduct the illegal spying operation at the UN in clear
breach of the Vienna conventions on diplomatic relations. The British target of the operation was China, Ms Gun
an expert translator of Mandarin, the language of Chinese officialdom,
was expected to use her language expertise in the operation.
The information was intended for US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"What a contrast it is with this mighty demonstration of 200,000 people with people speaking in contrast to Bush and Blair behind the ring of steel frightened to let the people speak to them.

Now fellow protestors, I didn't get an invitation to the state banquet.

I was dropped off the invitation list. Clearly I couldn't be trusted to say the right thing to the Bush bubble. But I'll tell you this, I would rather be here with you protesting against war than at any state banquet trying to explain the last one.

They told us it was about weapons of mass destruction. Not a single weapon found in Iraq.

They told us it was about international terrorism. Terrorism is on the increase as a result of that war.

They told us it a war about democracy in Iraq, they are now in a cycle of repression which will turn the entire population of Iraq against the occupying forces. The war has been a disaster.

There is one thing we should all remember - I'm not here to protest against America, I'm here with my american friends to protest against the disastrous leadership that that great country is getting and I'm here to protest with all of you on the disastrous leadership this country is getting. Perle, Wolferwitz, Rumsfeld we already have the program for the new democracy America. These people have betrayed the american constitution. The american constitution is one of the finest documents ever written, it should be - Scots helped write it. Liberty, democracy, equality. These people have hijacked America. Instead of America being the hope of the world, half the world is in fear of America, and the other half loath's America. They have hijacked the concept of America(*). This demonstration is a river of protest stretching from Glasgow to London, across Europe, across the world, and yes in America itself. And bush and Blair will not win, they will be carried away politically on that river of protest.

Politicians tell lies, I've even told a fib or two myself. Thatcher lied about the employment figures every month, Wilson lied about Polaris in the Clyde, but Blair is the first prime minister to lie about the reasons for going to war. That lie will finish Blair politically, and this war will finish Bush politically."

(*) This analysis
runs counter to the facts. It is not an issue of
one bad president hijacking America - every single
american government, certainly since the second
world war, has been an oppressor on the world. Ask
the people of South & Central America, of Africa,
of the Middle-East, of South-East Asia, of the world,
which american government has not robbed them, has
not tried to dominate them, has treated them with
respect and justice? The answer is a resolute none.
As Professor
Mohammadi points out, to study american foreign
policy one must look at history from the creation
and the birth of american society - it is based
on oppression, suppression and domination, and even
genocide. How many of those who wrote those words
about liberty, democracy and equality were themselves
slave masters, racists, deniers of liberty, democracy
and equality to other people? Like today, and everyday,
the application in to practice of these words, and
hence their real meaning, has always been selective
- they apply to some at the cost of others.

People in Britain will never forget the notorious Police cavalry from the days of the Miners Strike - some twenty years ago - when the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, using the police force as her private army, ordered them to attack the miners. They showed particular ruthlessness in using their truncheons to club unarmed men, women and even children who had joined their parents on the picket lines. Several people were killed and thousands more were hospitalised - some suffering brain damage due to repeated truncheon blows on the back of the head.

Perhaps even more disturbing than their brutality was the lack of humanity shown by many policemen towards the striking miners. After many months without pay the miners and their families were suffering - homes reposesed, electricity & gas cut off - no heat or light, food kitchens on a scale unseen in Britain since the 1930s were now all that was keeping miners and their families from starving. There were incidents of men collapsing on the picket lines due to malnutrition, of men reduced to stealing vegetables to feed their children and scavenging for lumps of coal to heat their homes. At the same time the police were on lucrative overtime pay every single day - many made their fortunes that year, buying bigger houses, expensive cars and affording several holidays that year. Shamefully many policemen on the picket lines would in an orchestrated action open their bulging wallets and wave ten pound notes* at the striking miners and their families, hurtfully teasing them, knowing full well that under the governments new law a striking miner with a wife and two children was entitled to just £11.74 a week to live on (compare that to a similar family not on strike and unemployed - they would receive the official government 'poverty line' amount of £48.25 which in itself was meager). The respect the police force lost that day, they have not been able to regain in the 20 years that followed.

Police cavalry attack women from miners women's support group. Orgreave coke works picket, Miner's strike Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Date: 18/06/84 . Iconic photo of the Miners Strike was taken by John Harris.

Margaret Thatcher tried to marginalize the miners by referring to them as the "enemy within", claiming they were a threat to society, that they wished to "substitute the rule of the mob for the rule of law" and must be dealt with. It didn't work, even right up to the bitter end when she crushed the strike using the full force of the State - from its army and intelligence service** to its media, the miners still held the respect and love of the ordinary people who could see they were fighting for the survival of their communities.

Interestingly today another community is being demonised as the"enemy within". A reputable mainstream newspaper, The Sunday Times, on 4th November 2001, declared that Britain's' Muslims are the "fifth column in our midst" and that they are "waiting for an opportunity to help destroy the society that sustains them." One wonders how this campaign to marginalize a section of society, this time the Muslims, will fair.. Will people let themselves be divided or will they stand together, shoulder to shoulder?

*See BBC documentary "The Miners Strike" broadcast 27 Jan 04, a Metropolitan Police Inspector admits to this on camera referring it to as "perhaps" unprofessional. He also explains away the police attacks on women and children on the picket lines: "None of us wanted to hurt women and children but at home we've got women and children and we want to go home to them..so yes we will do things to ensure our own safety."

women and children on the picket line

**Margaret Thatcher personally authorised MI5 to set up a "Get Scargill" operation, aimed at destroying the National Union of Miners(NUM) leader, Arthur Scargill, "politically and personally". The phone tapping operation against the NUM during the strike was the most ambitious ever mounted by MI5. MI5 sent undercover operatives masqueraded as miners to provoke violent incidents - in June 1984 two operatives were caught red-handed at the Creswell Strike Centre in Derbyshire- amazingly the main stream media refused to report it. A misinformation campaign accused Scargill and another NUM official Peter Heathfield of diverting funds from Libya to settle their personal home mortgages and finance the strike - 10 years later it was revealed to be a lie, a deliberate set-up by MI5. It is reported that the file on Scargill at MI5 runs to a massive forty volumes.

"The tried to divide our society, they tried to single out Muslims, they tried to tie terrorism to Islam. But it was us the people - Muslims, Christians, Jews, people of all faiths, of all ideologies, of no faith, of all cultural backgrounds who said No, We will stand together, we will stand tall, we will stand proud, and we will stand for humanity!"

Mad Dog Bush, and Blair holding on to his tail,
dropping bombs and leaving a trail of death behind them

Meaning of Tragedy

George W. was visiting a Florida elementary school while a fifth grade class was in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Mr.Bush if he would like to lead the class in the discussion of the word "tragedy."

Mr.Bush asks the class for "an example of a tragedy."

One little boy stands up and offers, "If my best friend, who lives next door, was playing in the street and a car came along and ran over him, that would be a tragedy."

"No," says George W. "that would be an accident."

A little girl raises her hand. "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove off a cliff, killing everyone involved, that would be a tragedy."

"I'm afraid not," explained George W. "that's what we would call a Great Loss."

The room goes silent. No other children volunteered.

Mr.Bush searches the room, "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"

Finally, in the back of the room a small boy raises his hand, in a quiet voice he says, "If you and your lawyers, Mr.Bush were to be eaten by a pack of hungry 20 foot alligators, that would certainly be a tragedy."

"Fantastic," exclaims George W., "that's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?"

"Well," says the boy, "it must be a tragedy, because it wouldn't be an accident, and it certainly wouldn't be a great loss."

"The Bigger the Bodyguard the more Evil the Despot"
- a reference to Bush's one thousand five hundred body guards

Azzam Tamimi

Azzam Tamimi, Muslim Association of Britain

"I would like on behalf of the Muslim Association of Britain to express our heart felt sympathies and sincere condolences to the families of today's bombings in Istanbul and of the victims of the previous bombings in Istanbul and the bombings that preceded them in Riyadh and every single bombing that is taking place as a result of this war that is waged by George Bush on the world...

Today I followed the press conference held by George Bush and Tony Blair. They were adamant that they had nothing to do with the chaos in the world. They kept saying terrorism is the cause. What is terrorism? What causes a young man to go crazy, turn his body in to a bomb and kill innocent people indiscriminately? He is exactly doing what George Bush has been going with his missiles, with his aircrafts, with his weapons in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and is likely to do in Syria, in Iran, in North Korea, and where ever he can get away with doing it.

You cannot stop terrorism by orchestrating with governments in order to persecute more people, to imprison more people, to violate the human rights of more people, to expand prisons for political prisoners, that will only increase potential suicide bombers. It will not help us, so listen to us Tony Blair, George Bush is crazy probably you are not yet as crazy so listen to us. You are causing chaos and anarchy in the world. You are letting loose thousands of young men and women who are willing to die and are willing to kill innocent people with them. We must stop this and it will only be stopped if this policy is changed. If they pursue those whom they suspect of terrorism they will never find them, who are they? They haven't found Osama Bin Laden, they haven't found Saddam Hussein and they keep talking about Al Qaida. What is Al Qaida? Any of you know what is the dimension of Al Qaida? Isn't this a phenomenon created by George Bush and Tony Blair?

That's why if they don't change policy, we have to make them change policy. I tell our friends in America, we are not against America, we are not against the people of America. We want you to wake up and see what's happening to you. You are the victims, wake up before its too late. We have to prepare for the next elections to change this government if it doesn't change its policy..."

An insightful article by Dr.Azzam Tamimi written shortly after Hizbullah's victory over the Israeli occupation (May 2000)
in which he shows the lessons to be learnt from the victory,
exposing Arafat and his PA as another Lahd / SLA
- both armies of collaborators created to defend Israel:

Hizbullah and Palestinian flags adorn the border between
liberated South Lebanon and occupied Palestine

Hizbullah's Gift to Palestine

Dr.Azzam Tamimi,Director of the
London-based Institute of the Islamic Political
Thought

Since its creation in 1948
Israel has never, not even once, recognized, let
alone complied with, a UN Security Council resolution.
Assured of unconditional U.S. support, for more
than fifty years Israelis terrorized the peoples
of Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt and perpetrated
the most hideous of crimes.

Israel could afford to
expand and occupy more land over the years because
Arab weakness gave it the green light to do so.
After several years of venturing into Southern
Lebanon since 1978, Israeli political and military
leaders defied all laws and norms by storming,
unprovoked, deep into Lebanon in 1982. More than
half of the country, including the capital Beirut,
came under direct Israeli occupation. Former Israeli
defense minister Sharon stood in the heart of
Beirut to announce that his troops were there
to stay. Indeed, nothing would have compelled
the Israelis to withdraw. The UN and international
law meant nothing to them and they did not believe
the Arabs had the guts to do anything having failed
repeatedly in the past.

Soon afterwards, the Israelis
discovered they had ventured into a quagmire.
Lebanon was to become a graveyard for their troops.
Still over confident and blinded from seeing the
implications of their adventure, the Israelis
created an army of collaborators whom they thought
could be relied on for maintaining a buffer zone
in the south of the country. The ploy was alleged
to have been aimed at protecting Jewish settlements
in the north of Palestine from 'terrorist' attacks.
But in time neither the army of collaborators
nor the so-called 'undefeatable' army of Israel
with its sophisticated weaponry and mythical reputation
was of any good. In May 2000 the entire world
watched with amazement as Israeli troops pulled
out under the cover of darkness leaving behind
their army of collaborators to disintegrate within
hours.

Hizbullah has succeeded
where the Arab states have failed. The two decades
of Israeli occupation of south Lebanon have exposed
Israel and enlightened the world about the real
nature of this Jewish colonial enclave in the
heart of the Muslim world. The Israeli humiliating
defeat at the hands of Hizbullah has proven beyond
doubt that the Hebrew state understands no language
but that of force. This is an entity that is comprised
of Jewish immigrants who came in search of the
land of milk and honey and not of pain and agony.
Paradise had been promised to them by those who
recruited them for one of the most inhumane projects
in the history of humanity. Occupying other people's
lands and homes turned to hell compounded by the
fact that Israeli cowardice and fear of death
is met with unique bravery by their victims and
love of death in martyrdom.

A Lebanese Muslim girl, victorious and joyful,
waving the flag
of Hizbullah, is returning to her adored land
- the village of Houla,which she
has never seen before
- denied by 18 years of israeli occupation.
A portrait of her beloved leader
Sheikh Nasrallah adorns her car.

During the glorious days
of the Palestinian Intifada (uprising), former
Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Rabin wished that
one day he'd wake up from his sleep to be told
that Gaza had been swept away by the sea. So deep
was the trouble he found himself in although his
troops were the ones that broke the bones of stone-throwing
Palestinians and shot at them with live bullets.
At the time the Intifada had still been restricted
to the use of stones and peaceful means of protest.
Nevertheless, that was too much for the Israelis
who grew accustomed to meeting no resistance and
engaging no real fighters except for intermittent
guerrilla operations by various PLO factions every
now and then here and there. What had boosted
Israel's confidence in the past was the fact that
all previous wars with the Arabs were no real
wars. In 1948, Arab troops, mostly commanded by
British officers, only prepared the ground for
the creation of Israel and the displacement of
the bulk of the Palestinian Arab population.

In 1967, the Arabs were
not in a mood for war and had not prepared the
least for it. Israel took the initiative while
knowing the lack of willingness on the part of
the Arabs to engage it. In 1973, former Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat embarked on what initially
was truly a glorious conquest of occupied Sinai
only to effect tactical changes in prelude to
making a humiliating U.S.-brokered peace with
Israel.

The Intifada made a real
difference. It exposed Israel's predicament and
restored confidence in the hearts of millions
of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. Furthermore,
it opened the eyes of many millions around the
world to the cruelty and inhumanity of Israel.
When in response to the massacre of Palestinian
civilians by Israeli troops or settlers Hamas
and Islamic Jihad introduced military tactics
including 'martyrdom' bombings, the Israelis sensed
more trouble. Now we know how much concern that
escalation in resistance posed for the Israelis.
We know more surely because of what has happened
in South Lebanon. Simply, Israelis cannot afford
to die in combat. Someone else should die but
not them. If they are the ones that are excepted
to pay, they'd rather relinquish their positions
and retreat.

Let us try for a moment
to envisage what could have happened had the Lebanese
scenario been allowed to unfold in occupied Palestine.
Like the Lebanese, the Palestinians were prepared
to continue the struggle despite the clear imbalance
of power. Like Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad
had the ability to recruit fighters whose love
for death in the cause of regaining their people's
rights exceeded the Israelis' love for a life
of security, safety and comfort. As in the case
of Hizbullah, Arabs and Muslims all over the worlds
sympathized with the Palestinian struggle and
were prepared to support it until it reaped its
fruits. However, unlike the case of Lebanon, the
Palestinian struggle was stabbed in the back and
betrayed from within. Israel was presented with
a golden opportunity by the ailing, corrupt and
bankrupt PLO leadership. As a result of the 1993
Oslo agreement between the PLO and Israel, the
task of securing Israel against Palestinian reprisals
has been undertaken by the forty thousand or so
policemen and security agents recruited by the
Israeli-sponsored Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA deserves credit, and has indeed been credited
by the Israelis, for doing an excellent job hunting
down resistance members of both Hamas and Islamic
Jihad murdering them, incarcerating them or handing
them over to Israel. It is also credited for opening
the doors wide open before Israel to establish
relations with other Arab countries and with so
many nations around the world that until then
had refrained from recognizing Israel in support
of the PLO. Had Israel not found a helping hand
from the PLO, it might have had no option but
to withdraw unilaterally from the territories
occupied in 1967.

Stoning the Zionists

Its become a symbolic ritual for visitors to the liberated land of South Lebanon to stone the zionist soldiers across the border from the Fatima Gate.

In this instance (12 Dec 2000) its the former Jerusalem Bishop Ilarion Kabouji throwing a rock on the zionists who kept him in prison for many years for his opposition to the israeli occupation, before they finally exiled him from the Holy Land of Palestine, the land of his fathers, the land of Jesus (pbuh).

Intelligence sources say
that at one time, Israeli politicians were seriously
considering an offer of truce by Hamas leader
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin according to which Hamas would
cease its military operations for an agreed period
of time in exchange for a total Israeli withdrawal
from 1967-occupied territories, the release of
all Palestinian prisoners and the dismantling
of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
Israel did not need to spend much time considering
that option when Yassir Arafat offered it peace
of mind in exchange for some trivial VIP concessions.

Fortunately, it has not
taken long for most Palestinians, including many
of those who initially welcomed the creation of
the PA, to discover the truth. The PA has turned
to be nothing but a new Israeli agency of collaborators
little different from the disintegrating South
Lebanese Lahd's army of collaborators. Year after
year since its creation, and from one round of
negotiations to the other, the PA has signed away
Palestinian rights. Aware of the predicament it
led itself into, the PA's response to the defeat
of Israel in Lebanon was a mix of disregard, indifference
and denial. There is no clearer evidence than
the attempt by Yassir Arafat, PA leader, to uplift
the morale of Israelis following the most humiliating
moment in the history of their state. As if nothing
was happening in the region, he flew to Europe
to attend a football match between a European
team and a joint Israeli-Palestinian team in support
of a peace process few people now believe in.

Clearly embarrassed by
Hizbullah's historic success, Arafat insisted
in a television interview that the Israelis withdrew
from Lebanon not because of Hizbullah but because
of compliance with UN Security Council Resolution
425, an argument the Israelis themselves found
too good to believe and too feeble to present.
Clearly Israel's defeat in Lebanon was also a
defeat for Yassir Arafat and his PA. In the fate
of Lahd's army, Arafat and some of his lieutenants
may have seen the end of their unholy enterprise.
Perhaps it is time for those of them who still
associate with the cause of their people to reconsider
their positions before their PA is no more just
as Lahd's army is no more.

Today Lebanon is free
and tomorrow Palestine will be. This is the essence
of the message Hizbullah has sent to the Palestinians
by awarding to them its victory.